The Secret Pool (Tilbury House Nature Book)
by Kimberly Ridley (Author) Rebekah Raye (Illustrator)
You might walk right by a vernal pool and not notice it.
Often mistaken for mere puddles in the woods, vernal pools are the source of life for many interesting creatures. If you look carefully, you can find them and be amazed! These secret pools form every year when low places on the forest floor fill up with rain and melted snow. They soon become home to hatching wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and fairy shrimp. Even in late summer and fall, when many vernal pools have shrunk to mud holes, creatures such as turtles and snakes rely on them for shelter and food. The Secret Pool introduces young readers to the wonders right underfoot as the voice of a vernal pool shares its secrets through the seasons, and sidebars provide fun facts on its inhabitants and the crucial role these small, often overlooked wetlands play in maintaining a healthy environment.
Winner, John Burroughs Association Riverby Awar Winner, Lupine Awar Winner, Skipping Stones Honor Award
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Kirkus Reviews
This surprisingly engaging look at a habitat not often covered in science curricula and popular nonfiction series strikes a harmonious balance of conversational language, factual text and informative illustrations.
On the full-bleed spread preceding the first page, Raye paints a watery woodland scene, in a multitude of greens and browns, with a population of creatures that depend upon the vernal pool for survival. Children will be amazed at how vital this place is for owls, rabbits, ducks, raccoons, robins, turtles, toads, tadpoles, snakes, dragonflies, deer, skunks, squirrels, frogs and salamanders. The vernal pool speaks from the beginning, “A shimmer. A twinkling. Do you have any inkling of what I am?…you might mistake me for a puddle—which I most certainly am not!” Each spread features captivating narrative that explains this “watery jewel” on a child’s level on one side and on the other provides more scientific information in a smaller font. Topics covered include the definition of a vernal pool and highlights about the various animals that begin or spend their entire lives in this relatively small biome. The book proceeds from the earliest days of spring through an entire year, dictating the order in which creatures are introduced. Readers will be amazed to learn that wood frogs can freeze into “frogsicles” during winter only to thaw out in the spring and that “fairy shrimp eggs can last up to fifteen years before hatching!”
Share with budding naturalists or use as an excellent guide for a woodland walk when the first rains of spring awaken this diverse and fascinating ecosystem. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 5-8)School Library Journal
Gr 3-4--The secret pool is a vernal pond, also known as an ephemeral pool, for its temporary existence as a small, forest wetland habitat. This pond is personified and describes the myriad life it supports in first-person, vibrant, rhyming verse. The verse is amplified by narrative text detailing the lives and life cycles supported by this small woodland pond. The exuberant, earthy illustrations seem to spill off the page as they portray a habitat brimming with life in every season. They compel readers to stop, look, and then perhaps count the wood frogs or fairy shrimp (both indicator species of these ponds) or wonder at the reflection of such predators as an upside-down owl. Even the two-page glossary is illustrated with a winter forestscape. Unique and original, this informative book will captivate and inform readers and browsers alike.--Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Vernal pool ecology
Vernal pools
